This three-year residency program emphasizes providing production medicine services to large commercial dairy operations. The resident will receive training in dairy production medicine, nutrition, animal health economics, diagnostic pathology, computer analysis, and udder health surveillance. The residency teaches the candidate quantitative skills that can be utilized in the interest of controlling and preventing economically important diseases and improving the efficiency of dairy cattle production. The resident is assigned to the UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center (VMTRC) in Tulare, California (located 250 miles south of Davis).

During the residency, the candidate will: 1) be involved in faculty-directed research; 2) participate in teaching 4th year veterinary students; 3) learn to structure and analyze farm-based research, 4) develop skills in communicating with dairy producers and employees, 5) participates in dairy employee training programs, 5) become skilled in dairy theriogenology, 6) develop quantitative skills to analyze dairy records, and 7) develop skills in epidemiology and interpreting population-based research. The residency teaches the candidate quantitative skills that can be utilized in the interest of controlling and preventing economically important diseases and improving the efficiency of dairy cattle production. During the second year of the program the resident spends time at UC Davis enrolled in the Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine (MPVM) Program, or a one-year Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program in place of the MPVM. The resident returns to the VMTRC for the third year and initiates and completes the thesis project for the MPVM or MBA and accepts more responsibility for herd production medicine and student teaching.

The American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP) advances the quality of veterinary medicine through certification of veterinarians who demonstrate excellence in species-oriented clinical practice. ABVP Diplomates have a common desire and willingness to deliver superior, comprehensive, multi-disciplinary veterinary service to the public. In 2009, the VMTRC Dairy Production Medicine (DPM) Residency Program was approved by the ABVP Residency Committee, making it the first dairy residency program in the U.S. to receive that distinction. This approval of our Residency Program entitles residents who have chosen to pursue ABVP-Dairy Practice Board Certification to be eligible to take the certifying examination at the end of their three-year training program.

The Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center (VMTRC) is located in the heart of California’s dairy industry. Tulare County is the leading milk production county in California, home to over 330 dairies with an average herd size of over 1,450 milk cows. To learn more about the VMTRC and the learning objectives for the 3-year Residency Program visit www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/residency_info/dairy_production.cfm.

Residents are responsible to pay all registration fees.

Minimum qualifications include graduation from a school of veterinary medicine, and a one-year internship or equivalent practice experience. Resident selection is made on the basis of academic achievement, career objectives, letters of recommendation, and pertinent experience.

For application procedures, salary and benefits, and other information about the residency program, please see General Information on the VMTH web site at: www.vmth.ucdavis.edu. If you wish to visit the VMTRC, please contact Staci Slaght or Dr. Terry Lehenbauer at 559-688-1731. Resident selection will be done at the VMTRC.